Food, family and memories are as intertwined in the South as if woven on the same thread. At any function we attend, from a party to a wedding to a funeral, we are as likely to talk as much about the food that was there, as we are about why we are gathered. ~Mary Foreman

I'm your cook, not your doctor. ~PAULA DEEN

I found out what the secret to life is: friends. Best friends. ~Ninny Threadgoode

Friday, November 9, 2012

Hobo Stew, made with ground beef, a mixture of vegetables, canned tomatoes and V-8.

Ground Beef Hobo Stew

Pantry friendly and adaptable, I just love this stew. In some variation and often depending on the type of meat you use, you may know this dish by the names of Campfire Stew, Girl Scout Camp Stew, Hobo Stew, Ground Beef Stew, Beggar Stew, Mulligan Stew, or V8 Stew - just to name a few. I just settled on calling it a Ground Beef Hobo Stew.

Historically, a basic Dutch oven style stew that dates back to the early 1900s, it was slow cooked over the coals of an open campfire, often in a can (remember that from Girl Scouts?), or made up in a large casserole style foil packet. It was a communal dish, often enhanced by the next contributor who showed up through the woods, with whatever he had. If you were a Girl Scout, you may well remember this camp-out routine, where we were each asked to each bring along a can of some kind of vegetable from home, which then got added to our own campfire stew. Oh the memories of those days! We'll just keep it easy and take it stovetop or crockpot here.

There really aren't any hard and fast rules as to what goes in it, except some kind of meat, potatoes, a mixture of veggies and not much liquid. What else you add in, depends on what you have on hand and that is why I love it so much. It is a stew though, not a soup, so it should be thick and hearty, although with more liquid added, it also makes a mighty fine soup.

For my stew, I like to use V-8 as my primary liquid. I actually like and used to drink V-8 regularly, and no, not only in a Bloody Mary, though I certainly have enjoyed one of those a time or two in my life. I used to add it to soups and stews where I used tomatoes, though I'm not really quite sure why I stopped, except that V-8 got a little more expensive than my budget allowed, and it wasn't really a pantry staple for me like canned tomatoes are. The blend of veggies in tomato juice found in V-8 is a perfect accent though for just about any soup or stew where you normally use tomatoes, so it's really no secret that cook's have been enhancing recipes with it for years.

This really is a wonderful stew, thick, hearty, filling - just perfect for these chilly days, and very easily adaptable to the slow cooker. While not everybody does, I prefer to brown and drain ground meat before adding it to a crockpot recipe, but other than that, it's just dump all the ingredients in and let it cook till the veggies are tender.

In the bottom of a Dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, peppers and celery; cook and stir until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and ground beef, cook and stir until meat is browned and cooked through. Drain off excess fat. Sprinkle meat with flour; cook and stir for 3 minutes. Add the beef stock, V-8 juice and diced tomatoes. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, corn and green beans. Add Worcestershire, hot sauce and seasonings to taste. Stir, cover and simmer over medium to medium low (low bubble) for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until veggies are tender, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Hobo stew can be served as is, or spooned over rice or mashed potatoes. Serve with hot cornbread, biscuits or rolls.

Cook's Notes: Use other meats such as stew meat, venison, bacon, Italian sausage, smoked sausage, andouille or kielbasa - all good choices. If using a stewing type of meat, allow it to cook in the base veggies and juice for about 1 hour before adding in the vegetables. Use fresh or frozen vegetables, or may substitute 1 can of drained carrots, corn and cut green beans or use a variety of other vegetables or beans, such as mixed vegetables, shredded cabbage, black-eyed peas, pinto beans, hominy, turnips, kidney beans, great northern beans, lima beans. You'll want around 5 to 6 cups fresh or frozen, or about 3 (15 ounce) cans. If using canned vegetables, allow the potatoes and carrots to cook for 30 minutes before adding in the canned vegetables.

Also okay to use lower sodium or spicy V-8, but taste stew to adjust seasonings up or down as needed. If using spicy, take into consideration hot peppers and other spicy seasonings you use. May also substitute a can of Rotel tomatoes for the diced, if desired.

Crockpot: Saute the vegetables and brown the meat as above; add that along with the remaining ingredients to a 6 quart slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours or until veggies are tender.

Variation: To convert to a Hobo Soup, increase the beef stock/broth to about 4 cups or to desired consistency.

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I had requested this from you a good while back, but this is the perfect time to get the recipe. My husband tasted the stew at a former hunting camp and has been wanting the recipe. I can just taste it...it's perfect. Thanks so much. Susan

I saw this recipe shared on my aunt's page and she raved about it. It is working on the stove right now and my two kids (7 and 4) keep getting their coats and boots on to go outside (it's about 30* here in WY) so they can get fresh air - to come back in and smell the stew all over again! We are anxiously awaiting for it to be ready! Thank you for sharing this!

Hi Annette! You know... I did not measure this out by volume - my serving size suggestions are really only that - suggestions - since appetites among family members can vary greatly! I make this is a 6 quart pot and although that is not filled to the brim you can estimate that at right about 1-1/2 gallons for this recipe. Of course with that large of a group, you should probably stretch the ground beef and use more veggies instead. I'd think that 10 pounds of ground beef would be plenty enough.

You can do either, but it works just fine cooked right on the campfire. That's the way we did it at Girl Scout camp!! Just make sure it's not in too hot an area on the grate and stir it up from the bottom often so it doesn't burn.

My momma used to make the hobo (hamburger) soup. She used canned tomatoes. I don't have her recipe unfortunately. I prefer not to use v8 but don't know how to figure out amount of tomatoes, what else to use. Any help would be so appreciated. TY.

Hi! It's not an already mixed commercial product, but just a mix of both chopped fresh, raw, sweet bell peppers - like green, yellow, orange and red bell peppers - along with some hot peppers such as jalapenos, green chilies, poblanos, depending on the heat level you're looking for. If you don't want the spice, you can just use the bell peppers.

Everyone loved the smell of this soup as it cooked. I added more beef broth and used less V-8, and I also used stewed tomatoes instead of diced. Everyone loved eating it too! It was easy to make, only used one pot, and my three little boys happily ate all kinds of veggies without complaint. Thanks for the recipe!

It's Dec.10, 2014 11:00 p.m. I have this simmering on the stove for hubbys dinner tomorrow. Haven't taste tested it yet, sounds like a lot of spicy ingred. If it's too spicy should I add the TBLS. of brown sugar I heard in a comment? Hope he likes it. I'll let you know.

Good morning! The reader who was using brown sugar was trying to cut the acidity that sometimes come from tomatoes, not to cut the "heat." I'm afraid that won't do anything but sweeten the stew and really it's impossible to adjust overly spiced soups & stews so it's always best if you aren't a fan of fiery foods to keep things on the milder side, taste & adjust from there.

As to the spicy ingredients - really you are completely in control of how mild or how spicy the stew will be. I use 1/2 cup of sweet bell peppers along with some mild jalapeno peppers, but you could easily keep that all sweet pepper. I also like the spicy V-8 personally, but regular V-8 is perfectly fine. The only other thing that has heat to it is the Cajun seasoning because of the red and black peppers, but that amount should be to taste, or you can easily omit that as well and simply season with salt and black pepper to taste.

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